H. Jon Benjamin is a writer, comedian and a prolific voice actor, but he's not exactly the man of a million voices. In fact, he's really the man of one voice, which depending on the setting could be the shiftless son on Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, the misanthropic dad of Fox's Bob's Burgers, or a self-involved secret agent on FX's Archer. Benjamin has appeared in his own physical form on shows like Parks and Recreation, and in 2011 created and starred in the Comedy Central series Jon Benjamin Has a Van.

Benjamin talks to us about and how his career in comedy and voice acting came together, the humble beginnings of the beloved animated series Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, and the perks inherent in voicing the super-spy and super-jerk Sterling Archer.

Over the course of four short years, the teenage members of glam rock band The Runaways released four albums for a major label, toured the world, and unleashed their classic single, "Cherry Bomb". While the group was huge overseas, they never gained the same level of popularity in the US.

Rhythm guitarist and vocalist Joan Jett went on to acclaim with her band Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, but as Evelyn McDonnell tells it, The Runaways have never really gotten their due.

McDonnell wrote the book on the band. She's the author of Queens of Noise: The Real Story of the Runaways, based on interviews conducted with the influential "queens of noise". McDonnell found that the band's manager Kim Fowley had a tight grip on the group's sound, and that their studio albums didn't fully capture their unique sound and chemistry.

Evelyn takes us on a journey to the other side of the Pacific Ocean to hear where the band hit their peak: on a Japanese tour where they recorded their album, Live In Japan.

If you only know the actress Jessica Walter from her recent work, you probably know her from her role as the singularly-focused, boozy, terrifically manipulative matriarch Lucille Bluth on Arrested Development or her voice acting on the animated spy spoof, Archer. But her career stretches back fifty years, with hundreds of TV appearances, from The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Love Boat, and Trapper John, M.D. to a starring role in Clint Eastwood's directorial debut Play Misty for Me.

Jessica sits down with us this week to talk about getting line reads for (the often quite vulgar and racy) scenes on FX's Archer, her love of Lucille Bluth and working with Clint Eastwood. She even divulges a few trade secrets from her role on Flipper.

Prince is one of the rare artists whose name has become synonymous with an entire era of sound. Jesse explains how Prince's 1980 album Dirty Mind was the turning point in his career, marking a transformation from musician to music god.

Judy Greer engages in fan-profiling. It sounds kind of sketchy, but before you get upset -- know that it's nothing bad. It's just a useful tool. Strangers stop her in the street, or at the airport, or in coffee shops all the time. It's always a variation on the same question... "What do I know you from?" And they won't let her go until she can help them solve the riddle.

She's an actress, so they probably know her from one of her many roles as "the best friend", in a movie like The Wedding Planner or Thirteen Going on Thirty. Or maybe they recognize her from her role as the slightly unhinged secretary Kitty Sanchez in Arrested Development. It could be any number of things, since Greer has almost a hundred credits on her IMDb page.

She rarely plays the lead, however, and so people often don't know her name.

Greer joins us this week to talk about love for the animated series Archer, the modest Midwestern roots that never allow her to turn down a role, and the freedom she finds in not being the leading lady -- and of course, she'll fan-profile our host, Jesse. Her new book, I Don't Know What You Know Me From: Confessions of a Co-Star is available now. You can also catch her in one of our favorite series, Archer, on FX, or on her new sitcom Married this July.

We often talk to artists about their influences -- the movies, music, and art that inspired them creatively. Some of that stuff is so good and so perfect that they sometimes wish they’d made it themselves.
This segment is about just those kind of things. It's called "I Wish I'd Made That."

This week, we talk to Nick Stoller. He's the director of the new Seth Rogen comedy Neighbors. But the thing he wishes he'd made isn't a comedy. It's a well-crafted science fiction movie that had him sitting in shocked silence -- Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men.

If you know the English actor and comedian Richard Ayoade by sight, it's probably from his role as IT worker Maurice Moss in the English sitcom The IT Crowd. Or maybe you've even seen him alongside American movie stars like Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn in The Watch.

He's got a very precise and funny presence on-screen, but he's most comfortable behind the camera. He co-created and directed the perfectly stilted and styled horror-slash-medical drama Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, and he's also directed two feature films. The first, 2011's Submarine, is a coming-of-age movie about a teenager's solipsism and romantic obsessions. His new film, The Double, is a comedic drama, and an exploration of the self and identity based on a Fyodor Dostoyevsky novel of the same name.

'The Double' is about a lonely, unremarkable government clerk named Simon, played by Jesse Eisenberg, whose life is slowly usurped when James, a new employee, shows up -- also played by Jesse Eisenberg. James is a physical double of Simon. Personality-wise, though, they’re the opposite. James is self-assured and charismatic, everything Simon wishes he could be, but isn't.

Ayoade joins us this week to talk about working with Jesse Eisenberg, forming identity, and why it's hard to sit back and enjoy his own work.

People often talk about two phases of Bill Murray's career. Think of Caddyshack and Ghostbusters in the 80s. Then, Lost In Translation and Broken Flowers in the 2000s. But there’s an oft-overlooked Bill Murray movie that was released in 1990; and you’ve got to watch it.

Jesse shares his love for the only movie Bill Murray has ever directed -- Quick Change.

If you only know the actress Jessica Walter from her recent work, you probably know her from her role as the singularly-focused, boozy, terrifically manipulative matriarch Lucille Bluth on Arrested Development or her voice acting on the animated spy spoof, Archer. But her career stretches back fifty years, with hundreds of TV appearances, from The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Love Boat, and Trapper John, M.D. to a starring role in Clint Eastwood's directorial debut Play Misty for Me.

Jessica sits down with us this week to talk about getting line reads for (the often quite vulgar and racy) scenes on FX's Archer, her love of Lucille Bluth and working with Clint Eastwood. She even divulges a few trade secrets from her role on Flipper.

Sometimes you're in the mood for a foreign film. Or maybe you've got a hankering to binge-watch sitcoms. If you're in the mood for blow-'em-ups and futuristic sci-fi adventures, the folks at the action and sci-fi movie podcast Wham Bam Pow have just the ticket.

Ricky Carmona recommends Michael Mann's Heat, which teamed up Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro for a film about one last heist.

Cameron Esposito recommends Linda Hamilton's approach to taking care of business in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Don't worry if you didn't see the first one -- it's fine to jump right in.

Annie Hart of Au Revoir Simone grew up in the suburbs of Long Island. As the story goes for a lot of teenagers, she didn't quite fit in. The kids at her school wanted to spend time at the mall. They weren't interested in making stuff, shooting videos and writing zines.

Annie found a whole new world, and a whole new group of friends, through music. The song that changed her life is "Knew Song", by the Long Island hardcore band Silent Majority.

For all of the analysis on sports networks and the countless hours that Americans spend watching it every week, the sport of football is, in a way, inaccessible. It's composed of complicated plays, and there's a distance between the spectator and the quarterback in his helmet on the field. It's enjoyable and exciting to watch, but it's hard to unpack. "While you can see what's been planned, it's all grounded in a plan that's secret and private," says writer Nicholas Dawidoff.

Dawidoff sought to go inside the world of football, to get a glimpse of the working lives of the coaches and players who spend their weeks planning and strategizing, all for a few brief hours of play on the field. He spent a year embedded with the controversial coach Rex Ryan and the players of the New York Jets, and the result is his new book, Collision Low Crossers: A Year Inside the Turbulent World of NFL Football.

Dawidoff talks to us about why football -- not baseball -- is the real thinking man's sport, the intense and short professional careers of players, and what he thinks the sport will look like over the coming decades.

The AV Club's Music Editor Marah Eakin and Head Writer Nathan Rabin discuss a few of their all-time favorite albums. Marah is a fan of the layered, sampled feel of Fleetwood Mac's post-Rumors album, Tusk. Nathan Rabin suggests a listen to Warren Zevon's intimate but ferocious live album Stand in the Fire.

Like a lot of funny people, Aisha Tyler often found herself on the outside looking in as a kid. She was the only black girl in her school and thought of herself as kind of a geek... Standing six-feet tall by third grade didn't help things, either. Ultimately, feeling out of place gave her the feeling that she could survive anything -- and the confidence to pursue performance. She's since performed stand up, hosted E!'s Talk Soup, appeared on CSI, 24, Friends...and even competed on an episode of Jeopardy.

She also has a starring role on the FX animated series Archer, where she voices Lana Kane, a beautiful and brilliant secret agent who plays the straight man to her idiot co-workers.

Aisha joins us to talk about her choice to do comedy in her own voice, the challenges of voice acting, and about living a real-life version of Fame in high school.

You'd think that God would be pretty focused on the choice of a new Pope right about now. But might some of that attention be diverted to.... spring training? Has the Almighty ever swayed athletic outcomes? Does He care for sports at all? Get the straight truth from The Man Himself (as relayed to David Javerbaum). The answer may surprise you.

Here's one way a musical artist can succeed: artist records album, sends it off to the label, label rejects album, album is leaked online, fans and critics love album, artist goes independent.

That's exactly what happened to jazz and soul singer Bilal, who wanted to follow up his debut album, 1st Born Second, with something a little more experimental. That album (titled Love For Sale) was never officially released, which left a nine-year gap between his debut record and his second album, Airtight's Revenge. That album earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Urban/Alternative Performance.

The wait between Bilal albums this time around is a little more manageable: his new album, A Love Surreal, was just released last week. It's a beautiful, headspinning collision between 1960s soul and modern hip-hop, sounding like neither the past or the present.

We spoke with Bilal back in 2010 right around when Airtight's Revenge was released. Bilal talked to us about his high school identity, growing up with jazz music, and his choice to go wild on Jay Leno.

New to Bullseye? Subscribe to the show in iTunes or via the RSS feed, or check out our SoundCloud page to share any or all of these interviews or recommendations!

And if you're in the San Francisco Bay area this weekend, come join us at a live taping of Bullseye at the Punchline Comedy Club as part of SF Sketchfest. We'll talk to 99% Invisible host Roman Mars, The Coup's MC Boots Riley, and more. Find tickets and more details here!

The AV Club's Head Writer Nathan Rabin and Music Editor Marah Eakin join us to share some favorite new releases.

Nathan recommends the new DVD release of the documentary film The Imposter: the gripping story of a man who impersonates a family's long-lost son. Marah suggests a listen to the new collaborative album by the Scottish indie band Frightened Rabbit, called Pedestrian Verse.

Maybe you've seen the cult film The Big Lebowski. Maybe you've seen it more than once. The movie lends itself to repeat viewings: it's chock-full of amazing and delirious visuals and wickedly funny and quotable dialogue. But what kind of wisdom can one gain from The Dude, the film's chilled-out slacker hero who's trying simply to "abide"? Maybe the key to living a more Zen life?

The Dude himself, Oscar-winning actor Jeff Bridges, and the renowned buddhist teacher and social activist Roshi Bernie Glassman join us to talk about following The Dude's example, loving, living life and some of the other philosophical riffing from their new book, The Dude and the Zen Master.

Mike Wiebe, vocalist for the punk band The Riverboat Gamblers, reveals the song that changed his life: The Dictators' "Faster and Louder", from 1978's Bloodbrothers. The song showed Wiebe that goofiness and edge weren't mutually exclusive, and inspired the Gamblers' beginnings.

The Riverboat Gamblers have honed their brand of melodic punk rock over the past fifteen years. Last year saw the release of their sixth full-length album, The Wolf You Feed. The band kicks off a European tour this spring.

H. Jon Benjamin is a writer, comedian and a prolific voice actor, but he's not exactly the man of a million voices. In fact, he's really the man of one voice, which depending on the setting could be the shiftless son on Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, the misanthropic dad of Fox's Bob's Burgers, or a self-involved secret agent on FX's Archer. Benjamin has appeared in his own physical form on shows like Parks and Recreation, and in 2011 created and starred in the Comedy Central series Jon Benjamin Has a Van.

Benjamin talks to us about and how his career in comedy and voice acting came together, the humble beginnings of the beloved animated series Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, and the perks inherent in voicing the super-spy and super-jerk Sterling Archer.

Aisha Tyler voices Lana Kane, one of the super-spies of FX's animated series Archer. She talks about living the real-life version of Fame in high school and funneling her experiences as an outsider into performance and comedy. You can catch her on CBS's The Talk, her podcast Girl on Guy, or on Archer, which airs new episodes beginning this Thursday.

Comedian and Actress Aisha Tyler: Aisha Tyler stars as Lana Kane, one of the super-spies of FX's animated series Archer. She talks about living the real-life version of Fame in high school, funneling her experiences as an outsider into performance and comedy, and the challenges of getting the tone just right when voice acting. You can catch her on CBS's The Talk, her podcast Girl on Guy, or on Archer, which airs new episodes beginning this Thursday. If you want more on Archer, check out our interview with Adam Reed. (Embed or share)

Writer, Producer and Actor David Hornsby: If you're a fan of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, then you probably know some of David Hornsby's work, as he's written and produced a number of episodes over the show's seven seasons. Or – you might recognize him from some of his scenes as “Rickety Cricket,” the defrocked priest who is often the butt of the gang's jokes and kicked around as a result of their constant scheming. He's created a new animated comedy series Unsupervised, about some surprisingly optimistic teens managing to make their way through life largely, well, unsupervised by any adult figures. Unsupervised premieres this Thursday on FX. For more on It's Always Sunny, check out our interview with Glenn Howerton and Rob McElhenney here. (Embed or share)

If you don't immediately recognize his name, you will undoubtedly know his voice. Patrick Warburton, at one point in the 80s and 90s, appeared in almost every popular television program running. From guest appearances on Northern Exposure and Murphy Brown to more regular characters on NewsRadio and Dave's World. His most popular character is arguably David Puddy on Seinfeld, whose persona he created in a read-through.

Patrick's style and on-screen persona literally cornered the market on the meat-headed wrench monkey and was even able to take this delivery to Disney as the character 'Kronk' in The Emperor's New Groove. The animation world would also use Patrick's unique and immediately recognizable voice in hit shows like Archer, Family Guy and The Venture Brothers.

Not a bad career span for someone who really, just wanted to surf Newport swells and maybe study marine-biology.

You can catch Patrick co-starring along with David Spade in the CBS Prime Time show Rules of Engagement, Thursdays at 8:30/ 7:30c. He's also the voice of the totally irreverent, totally inappropriate late night talk show host on Crackle's new series Effin with Tonight.

Marc Maron is releasing his fourth CD today on Comedy Central Records. "This Has to Be Funny" is available as a CD or mp3 download. (BTW, for long-time Maron followers, that's his cat Boomer on the cover). Recently, Marc gave the keynote address at the annual Just for Laughs festival in Montreal. (You can find the text and the audio here). The speech is a moving commentary on the importance of continuing to believe in yourself, and continuing to do good work, even when times are hard. It sends an important message to creators everywhere: Never give up.

Speaking of FX, we're also getting excited about the upcoming season premiere of the quick-witted animated spy comedy "Archer" featuring TSOYA alums Chris Parnell and H. Jon Benjamin. The network will air the first three episodes of the third season in mid-September reserving the rest until early 2012. If you haven't been following the adventures of Sterling Archer, you're missing some of the fastest and cleverest dialogue on television. You can check out the first season on Netflix, but I recommend buying the DVD of that season as it features some very funny and unusual bonus materials.

Adam Reed is a writer, director, producer and voice actor. He co-created the Adult Swim programs Sealab 2021 and Frisky Dingo with Matt Thompson. He's also the creator and executive producer of Archer, a series about global espionage on FX.

Archer is an animated send-up of a spy thriller, with lead spy Sterling Archer working alongside his ex-girlfriend and fellow agent Lana Turner. An impressive pool of actors voice the characters, including H. Jon Benjamin, Aisha Tyler, Jessica Walter, Chris Parnell, and Adam Reed himself.

Season Two of Archer premieres tomorrow night, January 27th, at 10pm on FX.

JESSE THORN: It’s The Sound of Young America, I’m Jesse Thorn. My guest on the show is Adam Reed. With his colleague Matt Thompson, he co-created the seminal [Adult Swim] series Sealab 2021 and Frisky Dingo. His latest project is a spy spoof that is very silly and very vulgar called Archer; the second season of the show premiers on January 27 on the FX Network.
Adam, it’s a pleasure to have you on The Sound of Young America.